Chapter 20: She Absolutely Refuses to Be the Third Party

“Xie Beishen, I didn’t go on a blind date.”

Xie Beishen saw the delicate little face looking at him with a hint of grievance as she explained.

Why was she explaining so much to him? Shouldn’t she be explaining to the person she was supposed to be dating?

If she already had someone and was still stirring trouble with him, this woman was simply outrageous.

Xie Beishen’s tone was cold and detached: “You don’t need to tell me these things.”

Su Wanwan looked at him standing before her, his facial features sharp and defined.

Only then did she remember that they had only met once.

In Xie Beishen’s eyes, they were just two strangers; there was no need for explanations. She needed to quickly break the unfamiliarity between them.

She turned away, continuing to look ahead.

Su’s father listened to the others speaking with certainty, as if he were the one selling his daughter off, and he shouted loudly:

“That’s nonsense! When has my daughter ever been on a blind date? She’s still so young; she’s not ready to marry.”

He didn’t want his daughter to marry so early. Early marriages meant early childbirth, and in the village, several girls had died from excessive bleeding after childbirth. Both he and his wife worried deeply for their daughter. Clearly, she shouldn’t marry young.

The crowd fell silent. Nineteen years old, and still considered young? Many girls in the village already had children.

This was just an excuse made by the team leader.

One villager asked, “Then why did she ask for leave?”

Su’s father replied, “She injured her foot and only started working in the fields today. If you don’t believe me, ask Old Li. You all trust Old Li’s word, right?”

Old Li was the village’s only barefoot doctor. Whenever someone had a headache or fever, they went to him. His fees were low, so the villagers naturally trusted him.

At that moment, Old Li stepped forward: “Half a month ago, I treated the team leader’s daughter. Her foot was seriously injured, and she had a persistent high fever. I even told the team leader’s family not to let her work in the fields for at least a month. How did she manage to go out to work after just half a month?”

Su’s father continued, “I don’t know who’s making up stories about my daughter. If it happens again, I will definitely investigate thoroughly. Anyone wanting to ask for leave next time should have a good reason, or don’t blame me for taking action. If you’re unwell, get Old Li to write a note and bring it here. I will only accept leave requests with his note. Today, if the 42 people who asked for leave want to continue asking for it, come forward now. Otherwise, get back to work.”

The crowd dispersed, and no one stepped forward to find the team leader.

Ma Zhiming, hearing that Su Wanwan was working today, quickly searched through the crowd.

Where was she? Didn’t she say she was working? Why couldn’t he see her?

It was good that she was working; the two of them could meet. These past two weeks had been tough on him—his body was covered in injuries, and he had lost a lot of weight. When he saw her, she would surely bring him something to eat. He hadn’t had meat in a long time.

His once handsome face was now sunburned and rough; he was no longer the same.

The team leader hadn’t troubled him these past two weeks, so it seemed Su Wanwan hadn’t told anyone about their business.

He couldn’t just sit and wait; he had to win Su Wanwan over as quickly as possible and soothe her.

Otherwise, how could he carry out his plan?

When the crowd dispersed, Su Wanwan put on her sun hat. Ma Zhiming wouldn’t recognize her.

She saw that Xie Beishen had already left with Lin Yu.

She had no choice but to find her second brother to go to the fields.

Su Heng escorted his sister to the western fields and reminded her, “I’m going to the eastern fields, mainly to watch over that dog. He’s been through a lot lately. Soon, Dad will have him carrying manure.”

As he left, he reminded her again to do less work and wait for him to help.

Su Wanwan then looked at the fields: a vast peanut field where everyone else was pulling up weeds by hand. She imitated their movements.

She learned quickly; it wasn’t hard, though the weeds were tough to pull, probably because the soil was dry.

Nearby in a cornfield, Lin Yu said, “I clearly heard that woman asking about you. What’s she up to? Could it be she likes you now?”

He looked ahead at Su Wanwan pulling weeds.

“Get back to work. Stop talking nonsense,” Xie Beishen said, glancing at Su Wanwan.

He didn’t know why she was asking where he was from.

There was no way she liked him—she already had someone.

Su Wanwan didn’t know how long she had been pulling weeds but felt worse and worse. It was hot, and pulling weeds required strength.

“Ouch—”

She looked at her palm, burning with pain. Not only was there grass residue, but a small blister had formed.

Oh dear! She was too delicate.

She glanced back and saw she had pulled about four or five meters—not much at all. The others nearby had pulled far more than she had.

Enough. She would rest first.

She walked to the shade of a large tree and sat down, removing her hat and blowing on her hands.

There was some healing water in her bottle. She poured it onto her hand, and the pain vanished instantly.

She took a few sips of the healing water; her fatigue also lessened considerably. After drinking it daily for some time, her body had adapted quickly, and she no longer needed to rush to the bathroom like the first time.

Had she known she would be working today, she would have bought gloves in the county yesterday. She would have even made a pair herself at noon.

She had planned to slowly get used to working in the fields, but after trying it, she realized she wasn’t cut out for this kind of labor.

There were people all around as she pulled weeds. It seemed she couldn’t slack off for long.

She decided to ask her father to switch her work to cutting pigweed tomorrow.

Two centimeters a day would be enough. The rest of the time, she needed to find ways to earn money.

If she kept pulling weeds, when would she have time to make money?

Making money was the top priority now.

Just then, she happened to look up and saw Xie Beishen in the cornfield staring in her direction. His gaze quickly shifted away.

Su Wanwan was momentarily stunned. What a coincidence! Their working fields were so close.

Should she ask her father to change her work tomorrow?

It was like being close to the water tower and getting the moon first.

After a brief hesitation, she decided to switch to cutting pigweed. She couldn’t afford to be love-struck; otherwise, she might exhaust herself before winning anyone over.

She had to put herself first.

Today, Xie Beishen spoke to her coldly and indifferently, ignoring her questions.

He truly was indifferent toward her.

She had forgotten an important fact: in this era, people married very young. She didn’t even know if Xie Beishen had someone.

If he did, no matter how much she liked him, she would have to give up on him. She had no intention of becoming a third party.

At that moment, a pair of dusty gray shoes appeared in front of her feet.

She looked up at the person standing before her.